Unlike much of the U.S., last month’s mid-term election was ho-hum in Oregon — as in, few election snafus.
The U.S. Postal Service is an essential part of American life, and especially here in rural Oregon. Its financial troubles in the last decade, while understandable, are a serious concern and r…
When it comes to speed limits, what difference does 5 miles per hour really make?
A kick in the pants to the delay on the Interstate 82 bridge between Oregon and Washington, which means we have at least another four months (but we’ll bet even longer) of intermittent traffic…
The Pendleton Round-Up has another record-setting year under its belt. More people attended the 2018 edition of the rodeo than any other in its long history, spending $1.3 million on tickets o…
As President Donald Trump mulls his next choice for U.S. attorney general, we hope he chooses someone with a realistic view of legalized marijuana in Oregon and other states.
Living in the country can be heavenly — unless you’ve got problem neighbors. Then it can be pure hell.
You know the drill.
Good deeds don’t happen by accident.
A tip of the hat to firefighters putting out the blazes plaguing California, the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century.
Type fonts at newspapers come in all sorts of sizes, but in the old hot metal days the largest used to be a giant 72 point.
A few words about government transparency: It makes democracy messy for government officials; it makes democracy inconvenient for those who hold power; it makes democracy work.
As much as we love life in Eastern Oregon, there are certain challenges that come with living as far as we do from the state capital.
Bumper stickers proclaim, “Kate Brown is not my governor.” T-shirts, magnets and decals declare, “Donald Trump is not my president.”
Oregon is on cruise control.
Five months ago, Rick Pullen got Umatilla County’s attention.
The times appear to be changing in Oregon’s 2nd District.
Last month Senate and House conferees working on the 2018 Farm Bill failed to reach an agreement before the old farm bill expired and without Congress voting to extend it.
The initiative process is the citizenry’s tool to directly enact change in state government.
The average Oregonian might not realize it, but Pendleton is on the forefront of autonomous technology.
If you live in Oregon, you live in a danger zone.
Opinions are like biceps. Everybody’s got them, but some haven’t been worked out very thoroughly.
We do not exaggerate when we describe agriculture as the top profession. If you think something else is more important, ask yourself this: Can we do without it?
A tip of the hat to Hermiston School District and the city of Hermiston for their new water safety initiative.
There is no question that increasing Pendleton’s stock of affordable housing is good for the city’s economy. But there are questions about how much money the city should give a private develop…
For one week out of the year, Pendleton is the center of Oregon’s attention.
Last week Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue released details of the administration’s response to trade damages from retaliatory tariffs by China and other countries.
Oregon was a national pioneer on land-use planning. It led the way with the Bottle Bill. Its protection of public beach access is legendary.
Perhaps nothing personifies the late Sen. John McCain better than this episode from his 2008 presidential campaign.
Finding enough workers for the busy season is a challenge for many farms, which try everything from recruiting local workers to hiring H-2A visa workers from overseas.
Americans have looked down our noses at the Chinese, whose dirty air we’ve seen on television — dreary gray and brown, shrouding ugly streets in a kind of sickly twilight. How disheartening it…
The Port of Morrow has been the primary engine driving the Morrow County economy for decades. Its impact cannot be overstated.
It must have been the first time a head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ever visited a feedlot in Central Oregon — or anywhere else, for that matter.
It doesn’t take a traffic engineer to determine that Portland is highway-impaired. Traffic in Oregon’s largest city is slow.
The recent controversy about whether conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ absurdities should be removed from media platforms has been shaped by his supporters as both a First Amendment and censorsh…
It’s hot outside. The kids need to go shopping for new school clothes. You’d like to get out of town one last time before the fall routine kicks in.
While there are plenty of things that divide Oregonians, there are three pillars that unite us.
As Eastern Oregon farmers reap their year’s worth of work from its fertile soil, national and international pressures are tugging and tearing at their bottom line.
A tip of the hat and a wave off stage to Craig McIntosh, the longtime leader of Blue Mountain Community College’s theater scene.
When it comes to recycling, Oregonians have been fooling themselves for years.
Ryan Bounds’ career on the federal judiciary likely came to a sudden end last week, just minutes before it was set to begin.
The press is not the enemy, despite what President Donald Trump has said. His relentless campaign against independent journalism is a self-serving strategy meant to shield himself from account…
A proposed ballot measure for 2020 would force Oregonians to have a serious discussion about the role of public employees.
Farmers who are anxious over growing trade disputes between the United States and some of its major trading partners got some encouraging words recently from Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Does the United States have a president anymore?
There is a problem with funding public safety in rural Oregon, and nowhere is that more clear than in Wheeler County.
Since it was passed in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has been all but untouchable by members of Congress, who consider amendments to the law with the same trepidation they would if they wer…
Donald Trump pardoned the Hammonds Tuesday morning.
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is one of the Senate’s most vocal critics of President Donald Trump. So his weekend in Eastern Oregon, where Trump won a majority of votes in each and every county, may b…
The best time to reduce the risk of a big wildfire in Baker City’s watershed was probably several decades ago.
Oregon is known for its pristine drinking water — so good that some corporations want to bottle it for sale. But a new threat has emerged: toxins produced by algae blooms.
A Roseburg mother was charged with second-degree manslaughter earlier this month when her 21-month-old daughter died after being left unattended in a vehicle for several hours; the mother said…
This nation started with a bang. It began with fighting words and we celebrate its birth every year with fireworks.
We support efforts underway in Congress to make industrial hemp a legal crop for U.S. farmers.
Canaries in coal mines don’t have anything over young coho salmon when it comes to reacting to adverse environmental conditions by going belly up.